RFID tags are widely used throughout industry to track assets and monitor industrial processes. Typically this involves physically associating an RFID tag with an object and modeling that association in an information storage and retrieval system (ISRS) such as a database. RFID readers and antennas strategically located throughout a workspace continuously interrogate nearby RFID tags, sending information about detected tags to said ISRS. Certain components of said ISRS use collected RFID data to populate a computer user interface with information about RFID-tagged objects.
Depending upon the design of an RFID tracking system, the presence or absence of an RFID-tagged object within the read range of specific antennas can be determined, from which an approximate location and movement history can be derived.
Oftentimes, however, more detailed information about an RFID-tagged object's status must be made known to the ISRS to facilitate optimal decision-making. For example, an RFID-tagged object may need additional inspection, or may be missing a part, or may require special handling, etc. Conventional RFID tags simply respond to interrogations within their designed frequency ranges. Although it is possible to write limited user-defined data to certain types of RFID tags, many users engage read/write-lock controls for security purposes. Furthermore, writing user-defined data to an RFID tag requires the use of an RFID reader and specialized training. Directly writing to an RFID tag as a means of conveying the status of an RFID-tracked object is not practical for the rapid pace of a workplace.